Maradona's former agent details 'unforgiving life' in new book

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Premier League spending during the European summer transfer window reached £1.165 billion ($1.544 billion) on deadline day, August 31. Brazilian defender David Luiz rejoined Chelsea from Paris St. Germain for a reported fee of £34 million ($44.7 million).

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Luiz wasn't the only defender Chelsea signed on deadline day, after paying a reported £23 million ($30.5 million) to bring Marcos Alonso to Stamford Bridge from Italian club Fiorentina. It was the sixth consecutive year spending in England's top division has increased, breaking the £1 billion mark for the first time.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Going the other way was Chelsea's Colombia star Juan Cuadrado, who re-signed for Serie A champion Juventus on a three-year loan deal.

After failing to challenge for the Premier League title last season, Arsene Wenger was under pressure to further strengthen his squad with high-profile players -- but it took until August 30 for Arsenal to announce the signing of Lucas Perez from Deportivo la Coruna for a reported fee of £17 million ($22 million). The 27-year-old is uncapped by Spain, but scored 17 goals in La Liga last season.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Soon after the Perez deal, Arsenal also confirmed the signing of Germany defender Shkodran Mustafi (pictured right at Euro 2016) from Valencia. The fee was undisclosed but British media reported it to be above £30 million ($39 million).

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Midfielder Jack Wilshere left Arsenal to join Bournemouth on a season-long loan, after manager Arsene Wenger couldn't guarantee the England international regular first team football.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo signed for Manchester City on August 25, joining former manager Pep Guardiola for a reported fee of £15.3 million ($20 million).

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

He replaced Joe Hart, who was deemed surplus to requirements by Pep Guardiola and promptly loaned out to Italian club Torino on August 31.

On June 30, Brazil forward Hulk became the Chinese Super League's most expensive signing, after joining Shanghai SIPG from Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg for €55.8 million ($60.8 million).

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

On June 28, Sadio Mane became the most expensive African player when the Senegal forward joined Liverpool from Southampton in a deal worth a reported £34 million ($44.7 million).

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

It might have been a free transfer, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic's July 1 move to Manchester United is one of the biggest deals of the summer window. The free-scoring Swede joined Jose Mourinho after his contract at Paris Saint-Germain expired.

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On July 6, Mourinho made Henrikh Mkhitaryan his second signing at the club, with Manchester United paying Borussia Dortmund a reported fee of $40 million for the Armenia midfielder.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Mourinho's first acquisition was Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly. On June 8, Manchester United announced the 22-year-old's signing from Spanish team Villarreal for a reported £30 million ($39.2 million) fee.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

John Stones didn't play a single minute in England's ill-fated Euro 2016 campaign, but on August 9 the 22-year-old joined Manchester City from Everton for a reported fee of $62.7 million -- which made him the world's second-most expensive defender.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

A week earlier, Leroy Sane had become Pep Guardiola's fifth Manchester City signing, joining from Schalke for a reported fee of $49 million. The 20-year-old made one appearance at Euro 2016, as a substitute in Germany's semifinal defeat by France.

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On July 1, Spain forward Nolito became Guardiola's second signing when Manchester City triggered the €18 million ($20 million) release clause in his Celta Vigo contract.

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On June 2, Germany midfielder llkay Gundogan became Guardiola's first City signing, joining for a reported £20 million ($26 million) fee from Borussia Dortmund.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

On July 21, Andre Gomes joined Barcelona from Valencia for an initial fee of €35 million ($39 million) after a successful Euro 2016 in which the midfielder helped Portugal win its first international title.

France defender Samuel Umtiti moved to the Spanish champion on July 30, signing a five-year deal after Barca paid French side Lyon €25 million ($27.9 million).

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Barcelona also completed the €16.5 million ($18.4 million) signing of France international left-back Lucas Digne from Paris Saint-Germain on July 13.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Italy striker Graziano Pelle reportedly became the joint-sixth highest paid player in the world after he left English club Southampton to join Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng in a £13 million ($17 million) deal on July 11. The 31-year-old will reportedly earn that much in one season.

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On July 30, Spanish club Atletico Madrid signed French forward Kevin Gameiro from La Liga rival Sevilla for a reported €32 million ($35.6 million).

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On June 16, Champions League finalist Atletico also agreed a €25 million ($27.8 million) deal for Benfica's Argentinian midfielder Nicolas Gaitan.

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World Cup winner Mario Goetze rejoined Borussia Dortmund on July 21 after an unsuccessful spell with Bayern Munich, which had made him Germany's most expensive player at the time when it paid €37 million for him in 2013.

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The next day, Dortmund continued to bolster its squad by signing Andre Schurrle from Bundesliga rival Wolfsburg for a reported fee of $33 million.

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On July 16, France midfielder N'Golo Kante was the first star name to be sold from Leicester City's Premier League-winning side, signing for English rival Chelsea in a $42 million deal.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

On July 3, former Juventus and Italy coach Antonio Conte started his Chelsea revolution by signing 22-year-old Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi from French club Marseille for a reported €40 million ($44.5 million).

On July 15, Juventus completed the signing of Morocco defender Medhi Benatia from Bayern Munich on a season-long loan costing €3 million ($3.45 million), with an option to buy for an extra €17 million ($19 million).

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Juventus signed Brazilian defender Dani Alves on a free transfer from Barcelona on June 27 after his contract at the Spanish club expired.

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On June 21, Real Madrid activated the €30 million ($34 million) buy-back clause for Spain striker Alvaro Morata -- who it had sold to Juventus for €20 million ($22.3 million) in 2014.

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Photos:Europe's biggest summer signings

Granit Xhaka made headlines at Euro 2016 when his shirt ripped -- before the tournament the Switzerland midfielder had already secured a move to English club Arsenal from Borussia Monchengladbach in a deal worth a reported £30 million ($39.2 million).

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Bayern Munich started the big-money moves in May, when the German champion announced a €35 million deal for Benfica's teenage midfielder Renato Sanches, who would help Portugal win Euro 2016.

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At the same time, Bayern also revealed it had agreed a deal to buy Germany's World Cup-winning defender Mats Hummels for reportedly a similar initial fee from Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund.

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Story highlights

Smith once counted Maradona as a client

His company First Artist had over 400 clients

Says top players deserve high wages

Fans "need TLC" over high ticket prices

London (CNN)Until recently, Jon Smith was one of the biggest football agents in the world. His former agency First Artist represented over 400 clients, including none other than Diego Maradona.

CNN sat down with Smith ahead of the close of the 2016 European summer transfer window to reflect on the state of the game today, nearly getting kidnapped in Uzbekistan, and owning his own personal zoo.

"After I sold out, I had a lot of publishers come to me to write a "tell all" book, and I didn't want to write that kind of book. Eventually we were engaged with a really good editor at (publishers) Little Brown, who said we can do this a little bit differently.

"It's not supposed to be pointing fingers and going 'Naughty boy, naughty boy.' It's supposed to tell how life is in football."

Do you miss being an agent?

"No, because of all the time you have to give to it. At 59 I sold out, and I thought I really need to familiarize myself with living with my family.

"People ask me about (recent Manchester United record signing Paul) Pogba paying £20 million ($26.5 million) to his agent, but I know what (Pogba's agent Mino Raiola) had to do to earn that: 10 years of living, breathing, sleeping with Pogba, Ibrahimovic and everybody else.

"It's a lovely life; I wouldn't knock it. I lived it, I've enjoyed it. But it's a tough life, it's an unforgiving life. So I understand why people say it's a problem paying agents all that money, but he's earned it."

Paul Pogba joined Manchester United from Juventus for a record fee of $116 million.

How did you manage 400 clients at once?

"We had a staff of 300, which did help."

Is there too much power in the hands of too few super agents now, like Jorge Mendes or Mino Raiola? Very often those agents appear to be on both sides of the transaction -- isn't that a conflict of interest?

"Yes, I understand that. Because we owned other companies, we could find ourselves representing the buying club in one country and the selling club in another country, along with representing the player in his home country -- all in one transaction.

"And FIFA said that was wrong and the (English) FA tried to stop us from doing it. In reality we weren't doing anything wrong; we were giving expertise and we were penalized for being successful. So I understand their view on it, and it doesn't tick corporate governance in its best sense. But doing these deals is complex and emotional, and you have to know the individual players. It's very subjective not objective.

"There are a proliferation of representatives who are average -- to give them their best compliment -- and there are a handful of good ones who know how to do a deal, and they really do understand the market."

"The regulations have been watered down because FIFA have abstained from governance. There were so many agent wars that were all licensed and governed by FIFA, and they just said we don't want this anymore. (Editor's note: Last year FIFA handed regulatory decisions regarding agents to each of its members' football associations to regulate.)

"(The English FA) decided to license what they call 'intermediaries' now to essentially anyone who had £500 and would apply. They scrapped the exams and everything else; ninety-odd percent wouldn't know what to do in a pressure situation with some of these deals."

Diego Maradona moved to Napoli from Barcelona in 1984 for a world-record fee of $10.5 million.

How did you sign Maradona as a client?

"I got him through his mate (former Argentina and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder) Ossie Ardiles. We tell the story in the book about how that came about.

"I represented Maradona from 1987 and they said goodbye to me in 1990. He was in Naples at the time, and a new group of people were getting involved."

Was it contentious when he left you?

"He eventually went with a guy called Guillermo Coppola in Naples who was involved with the local people. (Editor's note: Coppola, an Argentinian, became famous for representing Maradona and is now a talk show personality.)

"I was told after a while that they said, 'Thank you very much,' and I went, 'You're very welcome.' And they said 'No, Thank you very much and goodbye.' So we left."

"Yes, Paul was very brave then. Not many people would have hung around.

"Fortunately I've never had that. I mean, I've been involved in Eastern Europe in some strange deals. In fact, the first chapter in the book tells about a group of people in the Ukraine who we subsequently found out -- though we weren't sure it was exactly them -- murdered a football agent.

"We were trying to do a deal to get a Ukrainian group of people to buy an English football club, and we felt that we were close to being kidnapped at one point."

What was it like representing the England national team's commercial interests?

"I was their agent from 1986 to 1994. That was really the start of me making my mark in world sport."

And you told the players after they scored to go the barriers so the cameras would capture the ads, right?

(Laughs) "Well it was different in those days. There are now 37 cameras at football games, and there used to be three.

"During friendlies we would instruct the substituted players to run off the pitch, and the incoming player would run on and then stop his tie his boots up. So the camera would have to focus on his boots.

"It was the beginning of marketing in football. But only in friendlies; in competitive games we used to back off."

But how did the players benefit from that?

"The players' pool was paid money by sportswear companies to show their product."

"That evolved because we started pushing up the prices. I always felt that these guys should be remunerated correctly. I don't have a problem with what they make.

"£200,000 per week ($265,000) has become the yardstick for players' wages, but in reality there are very few players earning £200,000. And even if it's reported that they are, it is probably £100,000 ($133,000) plus various add-ons. But nevertheless I always figure that the players should get a sizable portion of (profits) because they earned it."

And generally do the players get a percentage of the transfer fees too? (It is common practice for agents to pocket around 10% of a player's transfer fee, sometimes more.)

"No, they are rewarded, ostensibly, commensurate to their fees. So an agent may well argue that if a team has paid £50 million ($66 million) for a player, then he's got to be worth £200,000 ($265,000) per week at least. It's an argument."

"Considering the sizable funds that are coming into the game, I would like to see a reduction of the cost for the supporters. At this level I don't think that would be painful for clubs, or a detriment to the game.

"One day there will be a lot of people who will still want to go to matches but won't be able to afford to go. And playing to half-empty stadiums is to no one's benefit. Supporters need more TLC with clubs."

What about a potential salary cap with club spending?

"It's never going to work. It works in America because it's matched with a system where the worst clubs get draft picks, but they would just find ways around them here. It's like agents' fees; (FIFA) tried to cap them at 3%, but all that would happen is they would get scouting contracts."

Crystal Palace fans protest against rising ticket prices during an English Premier League in October 2015.

You grew up being affected by a speech impediment -- though one would never know this now -- and currently stand as the patron of the British Stammering Association. How is that important to you?

"We told that story in the book because I want to highlight the difficulties that people who are disfluent face in everyday life. It's regarded as a bit of a laughing matter to most people, but it's a real issue.

"I wouldn't have had a life if I hadn't been through my cure, and there is no real cure to speak of. You have to convince your brain that you can do it, because your brain is fearful of communication. I was one of the lucky ones, I escaped the curse."

I read that you once owned a zoo. Is it still open?

"No, I had it removed. It happened because I acquired a llama though a deal and it just grew from there. I like being silly, so I had other animals as well, like aardvarks and kangaroos."